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You can submit a request to the credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, Experian) to "lock your credit" which will prevent many types of new credit accounts being

You can submit a request to the credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, Experian) to "lock your credit" which will prevent many types of new credit accounts being created. This is probably a good idea to do unless you are actively applying for credit anyway.

whyage 5y ago
I already have that, is it enough though?
- gorjusborg 5y ago
  I had all of my personal information leaked, and this is all I did. The responsible party offered credit monitoring for a time, but that still doesn't really prevent any damage being done. Locking your accounts at the credit bureau level prevents many credit accounts from being opened in your name, which is big issue with having your info out there.
  - yakak 5y ago
    I think pretty much everyone should do the locks but my understanding is that it doesn't apply to any organisation that already has a relationship to you, even for extending new credit. I would also talk to existing bank(s) to see if I could add a passcode instead of mother's maidens name, 2FA method and so on, setup alerts, and close out unnecessary banks, etc.
    - gorjusborg 5y ago
      For me, MFA is a must on anything of importance, so I didn't include that in my response, but I agree whole-heartedly.
- toast0 5y ago
  What else could you do? Once you've locked down your reports, there's nothing really actionable to do. If you've got evidence of actual stuff going on, maybe figure out if you can get enhanced security at your banks, so it's harder for someone with your information to 'recover' your account, but SSNs are more or less public information at this point.
- toomuchtodo 5y ago
  Not much more you can do until there is identity fraud ("identity theft" is how institutions whitewash their poor handling of identity proofing leading to this), at which point you can file a police report. https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/ https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/ https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/Steps https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/Steps

whyage 5y ago

I already have that, is it enough though?

gorjusborg 5y ago
I had all of my personal information leaked, and this is all I did. The responsible party offered credit monitoring for a time, but that still doesn't really prevent any damage being done. Locking your accounts at the credit bureau level prevents many credit accounts from being opened in your name, which is big issue with having your info out there.
- yakak 5y ago
  I think pretty much everyone should do the locks but my understanding is that it doesn't apply to any organisation that already has a relationship to you, even for extending new credit. I would also talk to existing bank(s) to see if I could add a passcode instead of mother's maidens name, 2FA method and so on, setup alerts, and close out unnecessary banks, etc.
  - gorjusborg 5y ago
    For me, MFA is a must on anything of importance, so I didn't include that in my response, but I agree whole-heartedly.
toast0 5y ago
What else could you do? Once you've locked down your reports, there's nothing really actionable to do. If you've got evidence of actual stuff going on, maybe figure out if you can get enhanced security at your banks, so it's harder for someone with your information to 'recover' your account, but SSNs are more or less public information at this point.
toomuchtodo 5y ago
Not much more you can do until there is identity fraud ("identity theft" is how institutions whitewash their poor handling of identity proofing leading to this), at which point you can file a police report. https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/ https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/ https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/Steps https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/Steps